XMS-888 - Mpeg4 - Firmware?

[V205]

Have had a play after ugrading to firmware 1.1.

Stuff that plays are pretty good. However, I've noticed (as some other here have also) that some movies take quite a few 'disc error' retries to finally play it. Could this be a laser quality issue? I'm using top grade sony CD-Rs.

[jokiin]

Have had a play after ugrading to firmware 1.1.

Stuff that plays are pretty good. However, I've noticed (as some other here have also) that some movies take quite a few 'disc error' retries to finally play it. Could this be a laser quality issue? I'm using top grade sony CD-Rs.

Have you got any cheap discs you can try? I know it sounds wrong but sometimes the good quality media is not too good in DVD players and the cheap stuff works fine. I've had problems with sony discs in players before, some tdk's have had issues also.

[V205]

I've also got a datastream disc that exhibits this 'disc error' thing but eventually works... other wise the other sonys seem ok.

So, is this normal? does everyone have this occasional 'disc error' that eventually works after a few trys? Or is it enough concern to bring all the problematic disc and try other units?

Thanks.

Have you got any cheap discs you can try? I know it sounds wrong but sometimes the good quality media is not too good in DVD players and the cheap stuff works fine. I've had problems with sony discs in players before, some tdk's have had issues also.

[jokiin]

I've also got a datastream disc that exhibits this 'disc error' thing but eventually works... other wise the other sonys seem ok.

So, is this normal? does everyone have this occasional 'disc error' that eventually works after a few trys? Or is it enough concern to bring all the problematic disc and try other units?

Thanks.

You need to be sure if the error is due to a read problem or the player trying to determine the file format. If it's only some discs that are a problem it may be what's on the disc that is giving the player trouble, if that's the case then coming firmwares may help.

[maxxed]

Wow now this is a long thread :)

After reading all 50+ pages, I thought I would chime in with some information for you guys.

I am involved in Manufacturing (I am in Hong Kong) DIVX players using the ESS chipset, the same one used in the XMS-888. We have been shipping this for quite some time now and have learned quite a bit. Your posts and feedback on this thread have been a great source of knowledge to improve our own units. For this I have to say thank you :)

I want to clarify something about chipset numbers. It was earlier mentioned that the ESS 6688FAD and 6688FA are one and the same. They are not. The 'D' stands for DTS. Thus any/all units with the 6688FA are without DTS..

Both of these chips are known as all-in-one solutions. This means (and has been stated on this thread) that the chip controls all functions of the player, including the servo. ESS also makes dual-chip solutions, where a seperate chip controls the servo.

We have shipped two types of divx units, each identical save for a different brand of loader. These require individial firmware for the unit to work. So please do not flash your firmwares with firmwares from other models! If the drive wont work, you'll be S.O.L.

One problem we never had was the OSD display error. We weeded that out in pre-production. It was an error from the ESS released initial firmware. The zoom problem still exists and from what I understand, ESS is working to fix this. I will have more news next week.

I hope this helps and I hope having some news from another maker will be able to help you guys determine what ths XMS-888 is capable of.

If anyone would like to send files/tests to me to check on our ESS units, I would be happy to do so and post results. It would help determine if this is a firmware error on the XMS, or simply a bug in all ESS released firmwares. PM me for details on how to send.

[pepito]

[QUOTE=andw]Please can everyone who has sample files send them to jok11n ASAP, as the faster he can get a wide variety of files up to the manufacturer, the faster we will get a fix.


No worries, I've just PM'd jok11n :)

[pepito]

Welcome to our humble thread Maxxed ! :)

I hope you hang around, the information interchange could be good for everyone :cool:

[andw]

jok11n, any chance maxxed can have access to the files we are sending you?
Might be worth seeing if it's our firmware, or ESS issues (like he said).

Also maxxed, for a look inside the xms-888 look at www.xms888.tk (if you haven't already).
There is a close-up of the mainboard under 'Photos', and this confirms that it is indeed an ES6688FAD (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~wweb/xms888/mainboard.JPG)

[V205]

Would you say the media issue is more specific to divx/xvid files? they are ok for vcd/svcd etc?


You need to be sure if the error is due to a read problem or the player trying to determine the file format. If it's only some discs that are a problem it may be what's on the disc that is giving the player trouble, if that's the case then coming firmwares may help.

[jokiin]

[QUOTE=andw]Please can everyone who has sample files send them to jok11n ASAP, as the faster he can get a wide variety of files up to the manufacturer, the faster we will get a fix.


No worries, I've just PM'd jok11n :)


Still haven't seen those files yet, have you forwarded them on yet? If you are having trouble with the file sizes through email let me know and i'll give you some details to ftp them to me instead if that's easier.

[jokiin]

Would you say the media issue is more specific to divx/xvid files? they are ok for vcd/svcd etc?

That further increases the chance that the problem may be the player trying to determine the file format not a problem with the discs themselves.

[jokiin]

jok11n, any chance maxxed can have access to the files we are sending you?
Might be worth seeing if it's our firmware, or ESS issues (like he said).

Also maxxed, for a look inside the xms-888 look at www.xms888.tk (if you haven't already).
There is a close-up of the mainboard under 'Photos', and this confirms that it is indeed an ES6688FAD (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~wweb/xms888/mainboard.JPG)

That's an excellent idea, comparing the results with another player based on the same chipset would prove worthwhile. Maxxed if your interested I can give you access to these files once I have them sorted and you can use them to compare results, if bandwidth is not a problem for you (there's over 1gig of files that we will be using for testing). If you are interested contact me and we can arrange something.

[V205]

So far, everyone of those problematic disc (xvid/divx) eventually do play... sometimes they play on the 1st go, something it's as bad as almost 10 tries.

I'll take all the disks they seem to be the most problematic on my player and trial them on other XMS-888. Anyone here in melbourne wanna compare notes?


That further increases the chance that the problem may be the player trying to determine the file format not a problem with the discs themselves.

[V205]

Upon more testing... I noticed my CD-RW media consisting of:

- verbatim (4-12x, 4-10x, 4-24x) 74min
- shintaro (4-10x) 80min

has a LOT less mpeg4 (divx/xvid) disc errors when playing compared to CD-R's.

Just to clarify... all the discs are able to get to the folder list. The 'Disc Error' happens after picking the file to play.

[jokiin]

Upon more testing... I noticed my CD-RW media consisting of:

- verbatim (4-12x, 4-10x, 4-24x) 74min
- shintaro (4-10x) 80min

has a LOT less mpeg4 (divx/xvid) disc errors when playing compared to CD-R's.

Just to clarify... all the discs are able to get to the folder list. The 'Disc Error' happens after picking the file to play.


I have another firmware which might be worth trying with these files if you would like to experiment. This other version does have some known bugs and is not the prefered one to use but it does seem to handle the reading of discs a little differently, if you are interested in trying it let me know via PM or email. I would be interested to know if this relates to the issue you have.

[V205]

J: I'm definitely keen on helping out. I'm a pretty detailed tester.

Will PM you... if you don't get my email.. i might be having problems.. so please PM me with your email instead.



I have another firmware which might be worth trying with these files if you would like to experiment. This other version does have some known bugs and is not the prefered one to use but it does seem to handle the reading of discs a little differently, if you are interested in trying it let me know via PM or email. I would be interested to know if this relates to the issue you have.

[maxxed]

andw - ive seen the pictures and it looks pretty much like what we are running, save for the different cabinet :)

jok11n - bandwith no problem., will PM you.

[jokiin]

andw - ive seen the pictures and it looks pretty much like what we are running, save for the different cabinet :)

jok11n - bandwith no problem., will PM you.


PM received, and replied with details.

[buts]

I don't know what's happening. I am trying now to cut out few samples for jok11n with no sound in the original files. I am using for CBR VirtualDub and for VBR Nandub. The problem is that sound appears in small samples (3-4 Mb) (both video and audio are direct streams). Can it be related to the file header and VirtualDub is replacing it by another one ?
Say, the original file (48Khz, 128kbs ) comes out with "codec not supported" and 30 secs sample out of it is playing fine ... It looks to me like a 'black cat in the dark room' problem. Surely there are low bitrates which don't play.
However, I also have problems with few high bitrates files. Could you advise any other 'exact' cutting tool which could keep the sample unplayable ?

[jokiin]

I don't know what's happening. I am trying now to cut out few samples for jok11n with no sound in the original files. I am using for CBR VirtualDub and for VBR Nandub. The problem is that sound appears in small samples (3-4 Mb) (both video and audio are direct streams). Can it be related to the file header and VirtualDub is replacing it by another one ?
Say, the original file (48Khz, 128kbs ) comes out with "codec not supported" and 30 secs sample out of it is playing fine ... It looks to me like a 'black cat in the dark room' problem. Surely there are low bitrates which don't play.
However, I also have problems with few high bitrates files. Could you advise any other 'exact' cutting tool which could keep the sample unplayable ?

Andw would perhaps best be able to advise, so far he has cut heaps of samples and kept the file integrity consistent. I can take samples of any size, so if you have the facility, it's no problem from my end if the samples are large. Andw has supplied about half a gig of file samples, so if you have broadband access you can send whatever you like.